Introductory text

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2018 on common rules in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Union Aviation Safety Agency, and amending Regulations (EC) No 2111/2005, (EC) No 1008/2008, (EU) No 996/2010, (EU) No 376/2014 and Directives 2014/30/EU and 2014/53/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Regulations (EC) No 552/2004 and (EC) No 216/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (EEC) No 3922/91^f1, and in particular Articles 43 and 44 thereof,

Whereas:

Commission Regulation (EC) No 29/2009^f2 lays down requirements for the coordinated introduction of data link services based on air-ground point-to-point data communications.

Acknowledging the ongoing data link implementation issues and corrective actions taken and recognising the objective that at least 75 % of the flights should be equipped with data link capability, the criteria for exemptions should be amended. Those criteria should remain effective, without placing an undue economic burden on specific operator categories which contribute significantly less to the overall number of flights. Such categories should include operators of aircraft with Future Air Navigation Systems (FANS) 1/A systems installed, operators of older aircraft, and of aircraft designed to carry 19 passengers or less.

In order to keep the Regulation up to date, references to International Civil Aviation Organisation (‘ICAO’) Annex 10 amendments in Annex III of the Regulation (EC) No 29/2009 and various clerical corrections should be made.

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/310^f3 amended Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 29/2009, however that amendment was not well reflected in the corresponding Articles 6 and 8 of Regulation (EC) No 29/2009. This omission should be corrected.

Since this Regulation amends the criteria for exemptions under Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 29/2009, it is appropriate to adapt the terms of the latter Regulation also to Article 127(3) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, referred to in Article 44 thereof.

Regulation (EC) No 29/2009 should therefore be amended accordingly.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 127(3) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: